Who Inspired Tracee Ellis Ross To Wear Black Designers At The AMAs

Update: Not only is Tracee Ellis Ross great about sharing her fashion credits, but the actress also isn't shy about saying who inspired her to champion Black designers on the American American Awards stage. On Wednesday, Ross shared more information on her looks on Instagram via a screenshot of her notes app.

"Not every piece I wore was by a Black designer, but I wore a Black designer in every look and Pat McGrath on my face," she wrote. She says it was a story she wanted to tell through her clothing, and her stylist, Karla Welch, made it happen. "I was inspired by Issa Rae and Jason Rembert, who did it first at the CFDA Awards in June. I strongly believe in using my platform to shine light in directions I believe in, love, and celebrate my people."

When awards season kicked off at the Golden Globes earlier this year, Hollywood's leading men and women chose to wear black in support with Time's Up. As Time’s Up member Eva Longoria told The New York Times, "This is a moment of solidarity, not a fashion moment." Since then, it seems fashion has managed to take the backseat to give actors and actresses the chance to voice their political agenda (save for an adorable moment with Sterling K. Brown at the SAG Awards), but Tracee Ellis Ross managed to make her fashion political as she hosted the 2018 American Music Awards — and looked amazing while doing so.

Just before the awards show started, the Black-ish actress tweeted she would be wearing only Black designers during her presenting gig. She even went as far as to tweet out the details for every single outfit change throughout. “I’ve featured black designers in all of my @AMAs press looks,” she wrote. "Will do the same for all my show looks tonight! Stay tuned for look-by-look details!"

Honestly, Ross is living out our fashion dreams. She not only attended Couture Fashion Week in Paris last July, where she picked out her Emmy's dress, but then she show us she pretty much invented the idea of wearing couture for InStyle magazine. Now, she's putting Black designers on a national stage thanks to her outfits changes with the help of her long-term stylist Karla Welch. But what else would you expect when being a Fashion Person™ is practically in your DNA?